Stellenbauchery

An Inspiring Detour into Kayamandi Township

During my nearly four months in South Africa I met a lot of people, drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of food, and saw some amazing things, but the absolute highlight of my trip was a visit to Kayamandi township two days before my departure. Though I’ve been to Jamestown, the small township across the fence from Blaauwklippen, I jumped at the opportunity to check out Stellenbosch’s largest township (over 29,000 residents, nearly all Xhosa) with a local activist named Selwyn Davidowitz who’s deeply involved in several community projects there.

 

Thanks to Selwyn’s involvement in Kayamandi, I got an insider’s look at the life of a township resident. For those not familiar with the term, a township is a neighborhood that was restricted to either black or coloured citizens during apartheid. Though institutionalized apartheid ended fifteen years ago, not much has changed for the majority of township residents. Poverty is extreme: residents are often crammed into tiny makeshift shacks with no running water or electricity and communal toilet and bathing facilities. Social violence is a sad reality and HIV/AIDS infection rates are unacceptably high. Worst of all, the townships have a stigma of danger and depressing images that discourages many whites from ever visiting them.

 
 Car tires get a new life as garden beds, a fine example of Kayamandi ingenuity

This is a mistake. Despite extreme poverty, there is more joy and hope in Kayamandi than I’ve experienced anywhere in South Africa. The sense of community is incredible: unlike in the sterile white suburbs, neighbors actually visit each other daily, take care of each other’s kids, help each other out. No one exemplifies this incredible spirit of triumph over adversity better than Lily Ngewexana.

 

Lily is a bit of a celebrity in Kayamandi: owner and founder of Once Upon a Stove homestay, which receives visitors from all over the world, Lily has put Kayamandi on the map as a destination for travelers interested in learning about Xhosa culture firsthand. Because of Selwyn’s personal friendship with Lily, I was able to not only meet her, but try some of her amazing cooking. Visitors to Once Upon a Stove have the option of taking cooking classes with Lily as a hands-on way of learning the Xhosa way of life; she explains, “this is who I am – I want to share my culture through food.” For lunch Lily had laid out an incredible meal: side dishes made of cooked pumpkin, mealies (corn), and potatoes, a marvelous chicken curry, and pap, a cornmeal dish similar to grits which has become one of my new favorites. Totally bland on its own, pap is meant to be picked up with the fingers, shaped into a ball, and dipped in a saucy entrée so it becomes edible cutlery. It’s a fun way to eat, and the pap absorbs the flavors of the food to make a tasty combination of textures. Washed down with Lily’s homemade ginger beer, a Xhosa specialty, it was a meal to remember.

 
 Lily shows off her house, the world-famous Once Upon a Stove homestay

With this lovely hostel and excellent cooking, Lily is the picture of success in Kayamandi. But she wasn’t always on top of the world: as a young girl she was sexually assaulted and became pregnant, and had to fend for herself with a baby in tow, selling used clothing to put food on the table. A few years later she suffered even greater misery when her husband began abusing her viciously – to this day her arms are covered with angry scars, painful evidence of her ability to withstand hardship. Determined to survive, and now with two young girls in tow and a third on the way, Lily fled her husband’s tyranny and began selling whatever she could – clothes, household items, food – to support her family. Eventually she heard of a bank that was hiring collection agents, and she showed up without an appointment seeking an interview. “They asked me all these questions I couldn’t answer, like ‘where is your C.V.?” she recalls. “I didn’t even know what a C.V. is!” Nor could she provide references, having always worked for herself. Finally the interviewer asked Lily how she dealt with robberies, a common occurrence, while selling clothes. She replied, “I know people. I know how to collect my money. I have never once been robbed.” Though she had no resume, her work experience won over the interviewer, and the next day she was hired.

 

After moving up in the bank and educating her older children, Lily moved back to her hometown of Kayamandi. Having repossessed a small stove during her work with the bank which she then purchased, Lily’s cooking career began with a scone business which funded the building of her house. The finished house became a homestay, and Once Upon a Stove was born – a B&B where travelers can experience Kayamandi, volunteering in the community or taking cooking lessons from Lily. Showing us around her lovely house, Lily’s pride is evident: “Every brick of this house I built myself!” Her brilliant business skills, truly indomitable spirit, and hospitality have elevated Once Upon a Stove to international success: it was featured in the American TV special “1000 Things to Do Before You Die” and represented at the Food Exhibition in Toronto.

 
 A delightful room at Once Upon a Stove

Lily is also a tireless community activist. She’s involved in programs in Kayamandi for education for children, counseling for domestic abuse victims, and other projects; it’s clear she is a mother to the whole township as well as her four well-educated daughters. From unimaginable obstacles to international recognition, Lily has had a truly remarkable life, and spending the afternoon with her was the most rewarding experience of my trip.

For more about Lily and Once Upon a Stove, check out the website: http://www.once-upon-a-stove.co.uk/

 

Kayamandi has no shortage of grassroots social projects; Selwyn introduced us to a few of his own special programs, from a trash cleanup effort to a dance club for youngsters that includes all types of dance styles – including ballroom dancing! We had a most wonderful surprise when we stumbled upon an adult choir practicing in the community center: this untrained group sounded like a professional gospel choir. It was the most uplifting music I’ve ever heard. Selwyn told the choir that if they could learn how to record a CD and put all the steps together, he’d produce it for them. “You give me a good product, and I’ll take it the rest of the way,” he told the choir leader. It was so exciting to witness the beginning of a project that could take this amazingly talented choir to the next level.  It’s a perfect example of the can-do spirit and sense of hope that exist in Kayamandi in abundance – let’s hope this attitude, rather than the doubt and cynicism that so often taint conversations in South Africa, carry this turbulent but amazing country into the future.

 
 The kids are cleaning up the neighborhood but not too busy to pose for the camera!

NOTE: Thanks to the great response I’ve had to this site, and because I’m planning to return to South Africa next year to do another harvest and some teaching in Kayamandi, I will be keeping Stellenbauchery updated from my home in the Niagara Escarpment wine region of New York State. I’ll be reviewing any cool South African wines I drink, covering SA wine-related events and news, and as usual throwing my little dash of wine-related politics and social commentary into the mix. Thanks for reading so far, and stay tuned for more! Cheers!

Cape Town's Backyard: Wine in Constantia

The sunny winelands of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek get the lion's share of wine-loving tourists in South Africa. But as a New Yorker I tend to seek out cool-climate wines whenever possible, and though Germans might scoff at what South Africa considers to be "cool-climate," many of the producers in these cooler regions are garnering critical accolades. I spent an afternoon exploring cloudy Constantia, which is turning out some top-quality wines just 20 minutes from Cape Town proper.

Groot Constantia was an obvious place to start: it's South Africa's first wine farm. Lovely inside and out, with Dutch colonial architecture and colorful artwork on the walls, the farm has a wonderful sense of history: it fueled Napoleon Bonaparte with the nectar of the gods during his exile on St. Helena. Sauvignon blanc is the shining star in Constantia, and Groot Constantia's version is ghostly pale with lovely flinty characteristics and just a whisper of lime peel. It’s a refreshing departure from the limey, resiny warmer-weather sauvignon blanc examples I’ve been drinking in Stellenbosch.

 
 

I couldn’t make a trip to Constantia without stopping at Buitenverwachting, both a darling of critics and well-known in South Africa for its outstanding commitment to housing and education for its workers. Offering elementary-level schooling for children of workers and some housing is standard practice for South African wine farms, but at Buitenverwachting, employees live in beautiful homes (rather than tiny huts or dorm-style buildings) and their children attend top schools at the expense of the company.

 
  Buitenverwachting's lovely tasting room

This approach is working – the only thing that doesn’t go down smooth about Buitenverwachting’s lovely wines is the name. (For the curious, it’s pronounced “buy-ten-fear-vock-tin,” with a nice rolled “r” if you want to sound intimidating.) Look for the farm in the excellent film Blood Diamond – several scenes were shot on the estate.

 

Buitenverwachting offers two 2009 sauvignon blancs: a more fruity style with lovely perfumey notes of lychee and raspberry, and a single-vineyard version called Hussey’s Vlei. The latter was outstanding, with beautiful acidity and a delicate nose of pebbles and shale.

 

Sauvignon Blanc isn’t the only cultivar that excels here; I tasted some wonderful reds including a 2006 cab franc with supremely franc-y lead pencil and pepper notes and their obligatory Bordeaux-style blend, 2006 Christine. A surprising highlight was the 2006 Rough Diamond, a blend of 60% petit verdot and 40% malbec: it had the fruity, warm spice nose of a typical malbec but also flavors of sardines and cured meat and grainy tannins which led to an elegant finish. Having never tried a petit verdot/malbec combo before I was impressed: it seems that serious, deep, no-nonsense petit verdot can force giggly, laid-back malbec to grow up, get a haircut and take some responsibility for its life.

 

We capped off our tasting at Steenberg with dinner at its renowned Bistro 1652 in mind, but the tasting experience was enough to make me forget about my rumbling stomach. Steenberg offers the best sauvignon blanc that I have tasted in South Africa, with only Buitenverwachting a close second. Our excellent server, who was unusually knowledgeable about vineyard practices and technical information, poured us a large flight which included three sauvignon blanc examples, and the range of flavors was amazing. The 2008 had fascinating flavors of bamboo sprouts and sesame paste – an ideal pairing for pad thai or sushi. The 2009, an entry-level sauv blanc, offered more of a fruity personality, and the stunning 2009 Reserve boasted a delicate pebbly nose, gorgeous mouthfeel, and layers of simply sensuous acidity.

 
 Vineyards at Steenberg under a typical Constantia sky

Of Steenberg’s excellent reds, my favorite was the 2005 merlot. Truly in a class by itself, this merlot had an Italian-style nose of soppressata and herbs, with a hint of wild blueberry and some lovely menthol notes. I also enjoyed the powerful Catharina blend. I was thrilled to see nebbiolo on the list, but this one, a 2007, clearly needs a few years before it develops a distinctive character.

 

A fantastic meal of tapas and Steenberg MCC at the bistro capped off the day; I went home completely sold on Constantia as a region to watch in South Africa. “Cool-climate” may be a problematic term for this region; rather, I’d say this is some of the best of South Africa – maybe some of the other regions are just too hot!